Just when you think you can’t eat any more ham, along comes a dumpling to save the day. These bouncy, juicy wontons are a clever, quick and easy way to use up your Christmas leftovers and bring some much-needed spice to the post-festive proceedings.
300g (10.5 oz) leftover cooked ham, roughly chopped
100g (3.5 oz) pork mince
1 egg
¼ cup chicken stock
2 tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
3 tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro) stems and leaves
¼ cup finely sliced spring onion (scallions)
1 tbsp finely grated ginger
40 wonton wrappers
finely sliced spring onion (scallions), to sprinkle
Spicy sauce:
4 tbsp homemade chilli crisp (plus 2 tsp of the ‘chilli crisp bits’ from the oil)
4 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp Chinese chinkiang black vinegar
Line a baking tray with baking (parchment) paper and set aside. Place the leftover ham chunks into the bowl of a large food processor and blitz into coarsely ground. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
Add the pork mince to the bowl of ground ham and crack in the egg. Follow with the chicken stock and cornflour, then vigorously mix with a fork to break up the egg and combine all the ingredients together until smooth and sticky. Add in the soy sauce, pepper, coriander, spring onion and ginger, then stir again to combine.
Hold a wonton wrapper in the palm of your hand so that one corner is facing you. Place about a heaped teaspoon of the filling into the centre of the wonton wrapper, then brush the edges of the wrapper with a little water. Place onto lined tray and repeat until all the filling has been used up. If you’re not going to cook these within a couple of hours, cover with cling film and store in the freezer. The moisture from the filling can turn the wonton wrappers sticky if left in the fridge for too long. Wontons can be cooked from frozen.
Bring a large pot of boiling water to the boil. Cook the wontons in batches in the boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until cooked through.
Meanwhile, let’s make the spicy sauce. Combine the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to combine.
Drain the wontons with a slotted spoon and transfer to serving bowls. Generously spoon over the spicy sauce and sprinkle with spring onion before serving.
